Tuesday, October 19, 2010

First off: Bored To Death, author Jonathan Ames's (far left) HBO baby (left) is in the middle of its second season now and as hilariously cute as ever. Be sure to check out the correspondingbook, or a clip from the show. (A must if you like pot jokes, awkwardness, waywardness, Ted Danson acting like Cheech Marin, super heroes with phallic powers, or anything that reminds you of a cartoon version of somebody who reads too much Vanity Fair.) And by the way, a movie version of The Extra Man, Ames's transsexualized Fitzgerald novel, was released just last week! And it features Kevin Kline, Katie Holmes, and John C. Reilly!

Secondly: Pioneering author of the "techno-geek-rebellion" novels (like his recent, and excellent, Little Brother), Cory Doctorow has been up to some cool stuff lately. Talking with NPR today about self-publishing and, more likely than not, the "Future of The Novel," Doctorow clarified a lot about how books will work in the future. Learn about his new project, an 'experimentally' published 'DIY story collection' here.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

REVIEW: West of Here (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, $19.96 -- February 2011) by Jonathan Evison -- Let me paint this thing: Look into the woods behind your house. Add more. More moisture. More trees. Moss strangling downed stumps. A sasquatch. An old bottle of Kilt Lifter with its label faded and grey. You are West of Here, now. North-West to be exact, and in a little semi-fictional town called Port Bonita, WA. The mighty Elwha roars in your ears!

And welcome to Jonathan Evison's (a Bainbridge Islander!) new novel!Let me say first: It's a Hybrid! (Congrats!). No seriously. Written in a swirling, stirring mixture of fictive and non-fictive, past and present, Evison's newest novel (note: Available in February!) is one of those books that cleverly tells you where you came from, why, and where you're going. Wielder of a sharp pen, Evison's language is sweet, too, and his plotting and characterization both apt and reeling. From sobriety stricken cannery managers, to dam-building dandies, to epileptic Native Americans, you'll love them all! Read it when it comes out!